


Cataloguing

by Laylah



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Magical Artifacts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 12:58:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12482120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: The artifact catalogue is a project of Jon's—he found a half-complete version from at least a decade ago in going through the files, and now he wants them to take a new inventory to get an actual complete picture of what's in here.





	Cataloguing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [May](https://archiveofourown.org/users/May/gifts).



_The skull is blotched all over with irregular deposits of silver, which is blackish-green with tarnish and resists all attempts at polishing._

Sasha studies the collection of bones in the case. Probably that's about all she can do with this one before she has a chance to go refer to the other records for its history. Might as well move on while she still has some time left in her shift.

The artifact catalogue is a project of Jon's—he found a half-complete version from at least a decade ago in going through the files, and now he wants them to take a new inventory to get an actual complete picture of what's in here. _If we have one of the most comprehensive—and dangerous—collections of magical artifacts in the world_ , he said at the staff meeting, _don't you think it would be a good idea, as far as possible, to know what they are?_ He was in fine form, too. Nobody does aggressively acerbic questions quite like Jon.

Mind you, it _is_ a good idea, even if Jon was an ass about it. And they're taking safety precautions, to lower the chance of accidents—nobody is allowed into Artifact Storage unless there's someone else working nearby enough to hear a scream, and that person has to be notified when you go in, so they can keep an eye on the time in case it goes funny inside and you don't come back out within the permitted two-hour window. It's not perfect, but what is?

Sasha moves down the row, notebook in hand, and checks the tag on another item. 0116-C (S).

_0116-C (S) – Pinned Moths  
A black picture frame containing three pinned moth specimens arranged in a vertical line. The moths are pale green in color with eye markings on the lower wings. Two of the moths have brown eyes; the third has blue. The eyes rarely blink._

It's a little unsettling, really, how rarely they blink. They're staring with the kind of intensity that would make Sasha get up and move to a different car if someone were doing it to her on the Tube. Of course, they're small and they're stuck inside a glass frame, so probably they're less of a potential threat, but... only probably. There are some strange things in here.

She hurries on to the next item in the list.

_0117-D (S) – Dark Bottle  
A bottle, roughly a pint in size, filled with darkness. Enclosed darkness behaves like a gas, not a liquid. Do not leave bottle open. Darkness will expand to fill the size of its container._

That was one of the first ones she saw when she started working here and got her tour of the Archive. It's one of the artifacts that's relatively safe to show newcomers—as long as you cork it back up again pretty quickly—and it makes the point that what the Institute studies is the real thing. Sasha resists the urge to give the bottle a little friendly pat before she turns the corner to start the next row.

So next up is... hmm, one of the new acquisitions, that table that got delivered a few days ago. Nobody's entirely clear on what it does, but it's a match for the one that's shown up in several of the archived statements, so clearly it's worth some attention. Sasha makes her way toward it carefully, through the narrow corridor between stacked artifacts.

Behind her, the door clicks and creaks open. "Sasha?"

She stops, turning back toward the door. "That time already?"

Tim grimaces apologetically. "Just over, actually. Sorry I didn't catch it sooner."

"No, it's fine." Sasha closes the notebook and tucks her pen into the spiral binding. "No harm done."

"Always a good day when we can say that around here," Tim says.

"Right." She smiles at him as she makes her way through the clear space, back toward the door and the relative safety of the rest of the Archive. "Time for some tea, then?"

She can just make a note, and come back for the table next time.


End file.
